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Dec 16, 2013

Burlap Sign Sings a Christmas Song

I made a little sign for over the fireplace this year. Well, it's 30" x 30", so maybe not so little.

The idea came from Denise...on a Whim and her chippy window sign. When I saw it I knew I needed to make one. I like to hang something different every year - click here for last year's "art".

I didn't want to copy her sign exactly, so I went hunting for other Christmas song lyrics. After looking at hundreds of songs - some I'd never heard before - and trying to fit them into a square, I came to the conclusion that The Christmas Song was the one to go with. Denise knows what she's doing.

I cut a piece of burlap to about 34" x 34" to give myself some extra fabric to wrap around the back, and taped off the edges with painter's tape to keep them from fraying. I then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the words. This is the first time I've cut out something so large - it used up almost all of my adhesive vinyl! - but I love how much time it saved.

I laid out the words in 6 lines, carefully making sure they were even, and that they stayed within the 30" space limit I'd set. Once it was laid out the way I wanted it, I filled in the words with two coats of Antique White craft paint. I left it to dry for the night and then peeled off the stencil. The edges of the letters were beautifully sharp.

We had just had new living room furniture delivered that day so there were some huge pieces of cardboard laying around. I cut one piece to 30" x 30" to use as a backing board, centred the burlap on it, wrapped the edges behind, and taped it down.

Tom built the frame for me using 1"x3" boards. He routered a rabbet in the back to hold the sign in place and reinforced the corners with L-shaped corner brackets - inset of course.

I stained the frame with Minwax Provincial and then wiped on a coat of watered-down paint the same colour as the wall. A coat of furniture wax, a buff with a soft cloth, and it was ready. I use this finishing method a lot - if you'd like more in-depth instructions, click here.

Since the sign is so light, and I want to reuse the frame, I just taped it into the frame. I hung the sign on the hooks that were already there and added some candlesticks on each side to balance it out.

I've gone pretty light on the decorations this year, and stuck with blue, white, and silver. We aren't going to be home much, and no one is coming to visit, so it was mostly just to perk up our spirits when we catch a glance.

I think the sign is fun and a little quirky. We don't usually decorate with "quirky" in mind, so I think it might be just what we need.

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